The Maryland Theatre for the Performing Arts (MTPA), which was long-planned for Park Place in Annapolis, has been rebranded as the Maryland Cultural and Conference Center (MC3). MC3’s strategic planning team and board developed a new plan and a new website, and a programming schedule for spring 2021 has been created.
MC3 Board Chair Mike Davis and MC3 Board Vice Chair Midgett Parker, Jr., with Executive Director, Mattie Fenton and the board of trustees and professional staff, will lead MC3’s efforts to implement its strategic plan to become what the group is calling “a world-class cultural and conference center offering state-of-the-art meeting and entertainment spaces, innovative and dynamic multi-cultural programming in a venue that honors veterans within the greater Annapolis region and the state of Maryland.”
MC3 has determined that there are at least three distinct communities with different needs that will serve as pillars for any building that will be constructed: the arts community, the business community and the region’s many veterans.
MC3 has developed a forward-looking diversity, equity and inclusion statement that will guide how MC3 will accomplish its mission. This plan to build the venue will be accomplished in three stages, with strong community input driving each stage.
Stage One includes the existing facilities at MC3: the Lawn, the Terrace and the Gallery.
Stage Two is planned to be a four-story building built on the existing Terrace. It will include a multi-purpose stage, breakout rooms, offices, galleries and a veteran’s overlook. Importantly, it will also include retail opportunities at street level and, perhaps, a restaurant on the top floor and roof.
Stage Three will be the main-stage flexible theater. It will be built on the Lawn at Park Place, and will be the largest element of this plan.
Given its location next to the Annapolis National Cemetery, MC3 will not only be a place where veterans are honored, but a place where they can participate in the local arts community and benefit from all that a vibrant arts community can provide. There is no set timetable to start StageTwo or complete StageThree. “The timetable will depend on the wishes and needs of the community, and the ability to raise substantial amounts of capital, mostly from private sources.” Parker said.